UC Berkeley

Latin America and the Caribbean is the only region in the world where child marriage (CM) is not decreasing. Growing levels of education and legislation to ban this practice have not been associated with CM reduction. This dissertation is grounded on the belief that the educational sector can contribute to CM prevention by going beyond expanding access to secondary education. Schools can also contribute to CM prevention by focusing on challenging social norms, understanding the role of the different changes that occur during adolescence, and recognizing the structural limitations that drive CM. This design-based research study provides a deeper understanding of the factors that shape adolescents’ decisions to marry in rural areas of Honduras and uses this knowledge to develop a theory of action to design, implement, and evaluate a school-based curriculum to prevent CM. The results and experience of this investigation advanced the development of design principles that can guide the implementation of interventions in similar contexts throughout Latin America.

Keywords: child marriage, Latin America, design-based research